


Trapped

by paperinkquillpoet



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir Identity Reveal, Aged-Up Character(s), Angst with a Happy Ending, F/M, I guess you could say there's angst, Identity Reveal, Implied Death, Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug Identity Reveal, Near Death Experiences, Trapped In Elevator, it's all caused by an akuma, it's all fixed by the end
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-27
Updated: 2020-07-28
Packaged: 2021-03-05 19:33:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,928
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25550614
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/paperinkquillpoet/pseuds/paperinkquillpoet
Summary: Because of an akuma, Marinette and Adrien are trapped in an elevator. The ensuing events are very revealing.
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Plagg & Tikki (Miraculous Ladybug)
Comments: 5
Kudos: 215





	1. Elevator

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this in a few days when I had better stuff to be doing. Thought I'd post it.

Marinette was late. Very late. She kept pressing the button as if it could make the elevator come any faster. She’d come to apply for a fashion internship and been told to go to an office on the fifty-first floor of the skyscraper. Talk about high fashion.

She clutched her portfolio of designs and smoothed out the custom-made suit she’d designed for the occasion. The fabric wasn’t cheap, nor was it the top of the line. It was a little more than she could afford, and she’d had to scrape together the funds for it. It was accented by a necklace she’d found to match her ladybug earrings. Her usual purse had been swapped out for one made to match her navy suit. Tikki was hidden in it. She hoped her ensemble made a good impression.

Just as Marinette was deciding that transforming into Ladybug and taking the stairs would be a better idea, the elevator reached the ground floor. Distracted by her nervousness, when the elevator doors opened, she ran right into Adrien. They both fell to the ground, her on top of him, and her portfolio scattered.

Blushing, Marinette scrambled to her feet. “Ah! I’m so sorry!” She took in the scattered papers she’d meticulously sorted and prepared. She should have used a notebook. “My designs!”

“It’s okay,” Adrien said, rubbing his sore elbow that had taken the brunt of the fall. “What floor are you going to?”

“Fifth! First! Fifty-first,” Marinette stammered. She knelt and began collecting her designs. “I’ll never be able to sort through these in time.”

Adrien pressed the button then turned back to his friend. “It’s a long enough trip up to there. I’ll help you.” He picked up a dress design modeled after Ladybug and Chat Noir, a tight black bodice with a sheath skirt that had red dots fading in until the skirt was red with black spots. “Hey, these are good.”

“Do you think so?” Marinette smiled up at him as he nodded. “I’m interviewing for an interview. I mean! For an internship.”

He laughed. “I think you’ll get it. I can put in a good word for you."

“I would like that, but I want to get this on merit alone,” Marinette said defensively. Somehow, she was feeling calmer.

Then, the lights flickered. The elevator jolted. “What was that?”

“I don’t know.” Adrien took a deep breath. “It was nothing,” he decided, trying to keep Marinette calm. And himself too. He was nervous.

Marinette held her breath for a few seconds. The glitch didn’t happen again. “You’re right. It was nothing.” She exhaled and sighed with relief.

Again, the elevator jolted. This time it screeched. Marinette grabbed Adrien’s legs, and he lost his balance, falling on top of her designs and scattering them again. Terrified, she shouted, “That’s not nothing!”

“I know!” Adrien shouted back before seeming to realize they were next to each other and didn’t have to shout. They were both scared. “I know,” he said more quietly and calmly. “But we’re not going to die.”

The elevator kept moving, and Marinette wanted to curl up in a ball. “Yeah, we won’t.” She looked at the display counting the floors. “We’re on the thirty-fifth floor.”

“See, we’re almost there,” Adrien said. Being in the elevator was making him claustrophobic.

“Almost there.” She watched the number go up to thirty-six, then thirty-seven.

The number vanished from the display. The lights went out. There was a painful grinding noise and the elevator seemed to fall a little.

Adrien’s arms wrapped around her in any other situation would be a dream come true. But now she was about to pass out from fear. “We’re going to die,” Marinette said, about to cry. “We’re going to die, and I’ll never have two kids and a hamster with you.”

“What?” Adrien seemed taken aback by what he was hearing. “You and me? Kids?”

“No! I didn’t mean to say that!” Marinette buried her head in her hands in complete and total panic. She couldn’t see anything, but she looked through her fingers in what she thought was Adrien’s direction. “I l-l-love y-you.”

“Oh.” That explained a lot. Adrien was blind. “Is that why you always act like this around me?”

“Y-yes.” She nodded, even though she knew he couldn’t see her in the dark. “And now we’re going to die.”

Holding her tighter, Adrien rocked them back and forth soothingly. He tried to time his breathing with the gentle rocking to stop from hyperventilating. “We won’t.”

“The elevator is going to fall, and we’re going to hit the ground and die. Or maybe we’ll hit the roof of the elevator and break our necks and they’ll find our blood and bones splattered all over the elevator!” She screamed and rose to her feet, banging on the elevator door. “Get us out!”

“Don’t do that, you might shake the elevator and make it fall!” The elevator lurched, and Adrien grabbed Marinette, pulling her away from the door. The elevator dropped some more, and Marinette tripped over her portfolio. The two hit the ground, paper crumpling under them.

“I’m sorry,” Marinette said dully. “I overreacted. I’m nervous and everything’s going wrong.” She scooted away from Adrien. “I… I’m going to sit in the corner over here and try to compose myself, okay?”

“I’ll sit in this corner and try to give us both some space,” Adrien said. He crawled, feeling ahead of him, until his hand found the wall.

“Okay.” Sitting in front of the control panel, Marinette tried to breathe. She opened her purse. “Tikki,” she whispered. “I need you to get this elevator to move.”

“I’ll try, Marinette.” Tikki flew through the wall and into the circuitry. They were stuck between levels.

“Hey, Sugarcube,” Plagg said. “It’s not going to work.”

“Plagg!” Tikki exclaimed. “What do you mean?”

“This elevator is stuck, the cables are fraying, and the power seems to be out in the rest of the building. I don’t think anyone knows they’re in there,” Plagg said.

“We have to fix this,” Tikki said.

“I think we need Ladybug and Chat Noir to fix this.” Before Tikki could say no, he raised a paw. “Just an idea. Let’s go tell our chosen what we found.”

Tikki sighed. “Fine.” Plagg flew away, and Tikki passed back through the panel.

“What did you find?” Marinette asked.

“I can’t fix the elevator, and it might fall. If it does, you’ll need to transform. But first, try to call for help.” Tikki flew back into the purse.

Reaching into her pocket, Marinette looked for her phone. Glancing around, Marinette said, with increasing urgency, “My phone, where’s my phone?”

“I don’t know,” Adrien said, feeling around the floor of the elevator. All he came up with was paper. He kept searching until his head ran into Marinette’s. “I couldn’t find it,” he apologized, rubbing his head.

“It must have fallen outside of the elevator when I ran into you. I’m so clumsy!” Marinette said. “Do you have your phone?”

“You’re not clumsy,” Adrien told her as he pulled out his phone. “Here. Let’s see if it works.” He turned on his phone, only to see a low battery warning just before it died. “No, no, no, you can’t die,” he told the phone, as if he could recharge it with his voice.

“Now we can’t call for help.” Marinette sighed. “We’re trapped for real.”

The elevator groaned in response and lurched again. Marinette grabbed Adrien’s arm.

“What if there’s some way to get out the top?” Adrien asked. “Don’t they do that in the movies?”

Hopeful, Marinette said, “Yes! Let’s do that!” She pulled them both to their feet. “Give me a lift up.”

Adrien held out his hands and let Marinette feel for his arm and hands in the dark. She felt like she was working with Chat Noir as he lifted her up. She felt around for anything on the ceiling that could get them out, pushing the tiles. “I don’t feel anything. I wish we had some sort of light in here so I could see.”

“But we don’t, so we have to improvise,” Adrien muttered.

Marinette stretched her arm and leaned, trying to reach farther. It didn’t work. She lost her balance and hit the floor hard. Adrien tumbled to the ground next to her. The elevator shook and fell. Marinette close her eyes, expecting to die, and trembled. In just a few seconds it stopped, but she didn’t stop shaking.

“Are you okay?” Adrien asked, worried. An arm on her shoulder stilled her.

She nodded slowly. “Alive.”

The elevator jolted again, and she gasped.

“Still alive,” Adrien told her. “Remember that.”

“How much time before the elevator falls?” Marinette asked.

“It won’t,” Adrien said automatically. At the doubtful noise Marinette made, he admitted, “I don’t know.”

“We’re going to die in here,” Marinette said. Unless Ladybug saved them. She couldn’t transform without a bright flash of light. Even in the dark, that would give her away. If it came to that, she’d try. But then even with her powers, she’d still be trapped in an elevator. What could she do, pry the doors open on her way down? That wouldn’t get her out. And if they survived, Adrien would know who she was. Her identity would be compromised.

Adrien hugged her. “I promise we won’t die.”

“I don’t know how you can say that,” Marinette responded dully.

“Because you have a future ahead of you. A career as a fashion designer. Two kids and a hamster.” In the dark, she couldn’t see the look on his face, but she hoped it was sincere. “A date with me.”

“What?” Her heart skipped a beat. She was glad he couldn’t see her face turning red in the dark. “A d-date?”

“We can get some macarons from your parents’ bakery. Find a place with a nice view. Have a picnic. Or we can go to a fancy restaurant, your choice. We can order whatever you want.” Shifting, he stopped hugging her and instead held her hands tightly. He seemed to be directly in front of her, looking at her, even though he couldn’t see her.

Her response was quiet, just a breath. “A picnic sounds good.”

“When?” Adrien asked, a smile clear in his voice.

“After my interview,” Marinette replied. “I have the rest of the day free.”

“I’ll wait for you.”

Above them, the cables groaned again. The elevator shook. “How long do you think that will hold?”

“Until someone finds us.” Adrien’s voice shook.

There was a snap. The elevator fell. Marinette found herself thrown away from Adrien. This was it. They were going to die. There was no time to transform and figure it out. They’d be dead by then. And then they jolted to a stop. “What was that?”

“Some of the cables,” Adrien guessed. “This is it.” 

There was a tap on Marinette’s leg. Quietly, Tikki told her, “You know what you have to do.” Marinette nodded.

“We need to get out of here now,” Marinette said.

“Yes, we do,” Adrien agreed, with a sense of finality in his voice.

The remaining cables continued to groan, more and more screeching.

“Marinette?” Adrien said hesitantly. “Please don’t let this change how you think about me.”

“Adrien, what do you mean?” Marinette looked in his direction.

“Plagg, claws out!” There was a flash of green light that let Marinette see Adrien transform into Chat Noir.

Shocked, Marinette stared in his direction, mouth agape. “Y-you! You’re Chat Noir!” She couldn’t believe it. Her pun-loving partner who she kept turning down was the boy she loved.

“I’m sorry.” He sounded regretful.

The elevator shook.

“I’ve got to get us out of here.” With his night vision, he could see Marinette looking like her entire world had just been turned upside down. He could see the designs scattered, many crumpled and ruined, on the ground. He grabbed as many as he could and shoved them in the portfolio. Then he put it in Marinette’s hands.

Jumping up, he shouted, “Cataclysm!” A large part of the elevator’s ceiling dissolved into ash. The elevator shook, the cables threatening to break, while Adrien, no, Chat Noir, grabbed Marinette’s hand.

“Here,” he said urgently, giving her a boost through the hole in the ceiling before pulling himself up. The last of the cables snapped.

They began to fall. Chat Noir extended his staff, trying to wedge it into the elevator shaft, but it kept slipping, not catching on anything.

“My turn,” Marinette said. “Tikki, spots on!” She transformed, already throwing her yoyo into the air as it formed in her hands. It wrapped around something in the shaft and went taught as she held onto Chat Noir and he held onto her. The elevator crashed into the ground below them, a terrifying reminder that they could have followed it. Her grip was the only thing keeping them from plummeting hundreds of feet down. Even they couldn’t survive that.

“Marinette? You’re Ladybug?” Chat Noir stared at her and held her tighter.

With a laugh, Ladybug said, “Yes, Chat.”

Something seemed to click in his head as he asked, “Did you keep turning me down for… Adrien?”

“I can’t believe I turned you down for yourself. I’m an idiot.” She kept looking for a way to get them to safety.

“We both are,” Chat replied, spinning the staff around, trying to get it to be of some help. “Are we still on for that date?”

Ladybug almost let go of the yoyo when he said that. “You’re serious?”

“Of course.” Chat Noir grinned. “Don’t leave me hanging, purr-incess.”

If she’d had a free hand, she would have hit him. Playfully, of course. Instead, she just said, “Yes! I’ve wanted a date with you since we first met.”

“Really? Even though I’m Chat Noir, not just the Adrien you knew?” He thought of every time she’d turned him down, everything he’d done and said as Chat Noir. All the ways he let himself act as Chat Noir that he couldn’t as Adrien. Did Marinette think of him differently now?

“I love you even more now,” Ladybug said. “Now, when I start swinging my legs, swing yours, and we’ll see if we can reach the edge of the shaft and use that to climb out of here that way.”

“Okay,” Chat Noir said, doing what Ladybug had told him. Together, they began climbing.

“Maybe,” Ladybug started as they slowly made progress. “Maybe I would have let myself love Chat Noir if I wasn’t already in love with Adrien.” She looked at him for a second, then back up, where her yoyo was wrapped several times around something at the top of the shaft.

Then she continued talking. “You’re my partner. My friend. The one person I would trust with my life every time. You saved me in the elevator as Adrien and Chat Noir. You put everything on the line for me.”

She found herself talking to him normally, not stammering over her words. Maybe it was because she knew he was Chat Noir and she could fall back on their partnership. More softly, she asked, “Do you love me as Marinette like you love Ladybug?”

“I do,” he said, as much a realization as a reassurance. “Maybe I would have fallen in love with Marinette if I wasn’t in love with Ladybug. But now I see you’re one and the same, and everything I love in Ladybug… I love that in you as Marinette, too. I love you as Marinette.” This, he realized, was what Plagg had teased him about. Plagg wasn’t getting any camembert when they got out of this. 

“Look up there!” Ladybug said suddenly. There was faint light filtering into the elevator shaft.

Chat Noir followed her line of sight. “Is that a way out?”

“Yes!” Ladybug could have cried with happiness. Already her emotions of love, fear, anxiety, and desperation were running high, and this was about to push her over the edge.

“I’m going to get up there!” Jamming his staff into the wall, he pushed off and began climbing, bouncing from side to side of the shaft. When he faltered, he grabbed onto the yoyo string.

“Chat!” Ladybug shouted. “I almost fell!”

He shouted back, “Sorry!”

“It’s fine! I love you!” When the words passed her lips, she inhaled sharply. She’d said it aloud, casually, without thinking.

Grinning down at her, Chat said, “I love you too, my lady.”

As he took off again, she sighed and kept climbing. It didn’t take very long for Chat Noir to reach the break in the elevator shaft. He jumped through the space, disappearing from her sight. Then he poked his head back through to look down at her and called, “Just hang on, I’ll pull you up.”

She held on tight as he pulled her up the shaft, then jumped to stand beside him. Finally, she retrieved her yoyo from where it had been secured. Looking around, she took in what seemed to be a lot of destruction. Windows were broken, jagged shards of glass now edged with red. Ladybug decided not to look at the pavement below.

“What happened here?” Chat Noir said, taking the words right out of her mouth. He seemed horrified.

Shuddering, Ladybug replied, “I don’t want to know, but we have to find out.”

Chat’s ring beeped. “I need to detransform,” he told her.

“Uh… in here,” Ladybug said, pushing open the first door she found. There was no one inside, but the desk and chairs were tipped over. She righted the desk. “I don’t know if there are cameras.” She paused and looked around, then continued, “So hide under the desk and I’ll stand here.”

“Okay.” Chat Noir crawled under the desk, looking at Ladybug. Her eyes were focused on him as he said, “Plagg, claws in.”

His transformation came undone, and Ladybug found herself looking at Adrien. They were one and the same, and she hadn’t just imagined it. This wasn’t just her imagination as she plummeted to her death. No, this was real and incredible.

“Finally!” Plagg exclaimed as he saw Ladybug in front of him. “Hi, Ladybug. Tikki told you to transform?”

“You two were planning this?” Ladybug shouted. “Of course.” She was frustrated but not surprised. “Why couldn’t we have told each other before?”

“It wasn’t life or death,” Plagg answered. “If I had my way, I wouldn’t have had to put up with Chat Noir here talking about you both.”

“Us both?” This was too much. Ladybug gave up. “Eat your camembert,” she told Plagg.

Adrien seemed equally upset as he handed the cheese to his kwami. “See what I have to put up with?”

“Yes, I see, and I don’t like it,” Ladybug muttered.

Adrien laughed. “Plagg, claws out.” He transformed into Chat Noir again.


	2. Akuma

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for the comments and kudos!

Before he could stand up, the door flew off its hinges. Ladybug dove as it hit the wall where she had just been standing. In the open doorway was a sleek figure. “I thought I heard some noise in here,” they said in an inhuman voice.

“Who are you?” Ladybug asked, throwing her yoyo at the person’s legs.

The figure jumped, landing on the desk where Chat Noir was hiding. “I’m Skyboss.”

“What kind of name is that?” Chat Noir taunted, tipping over the desk. Staff in hand, he turned to face the akuma.

“I rule the skies. This skyscraper is mine now.” The akuma countered Chat Noir’s attempts to hit them, and Chat Noir dodged the akuma’s attacks. The akuma seemed to be stronger than either hero but didn’t seem to have any special powers. “And I’m going to kick you out.”

“Oh, I’m scared,” Chat said. The akuma kicked him in the chest, sending him flying through the doorway.

As soon as her partner was hit, Ladybug raced out of the room after him. “Chat!”

Chat was sprawled a few feet from the broken window, wheezing. “I’m okay,” he told her as she helped him to his feet. “Just a bit winded.”

“You’ll be a lot more winded when I throw you out the window,” Skyboss said, landing next to them.

“That’s a good one,” Chat Noir joked. He dodged the akuma, but Skyboss pivoted, hitting Ladybug. She went flying through the glass. Her yoyo wrapped around a chair and slowed her fall.

“Please be a hang glider or a parachute or a hot air balloon,” Ladybug told herself, shouting, “Lucky Charm!”

Two suction cups with handles fell into the hand not holding the yoyo. She didn’t know what to do with them until she realized she was swinging toward the glass windows of the skyscraper. The suction cups in her hand connected to the glass and held her there. Above her, the chair slid through the broken window, pulling her yoyo down with it until she yanked it free. The suction cups in one hand were the only thing keeping her from falling as she put the yoyo back on her hip. She grabbed one of the suction cups with her other hand, pulled it off the glass, stuck it higher, and tried not to look down as she began to climb.

“You tried to kill Ladybug!” Chat yelled. He had to hope Ladybug wasn’t dead. If Ladybug was dead, that was the end. His lady, dead… He couldn’t run to the window to check while fighting Skyboss with increasing ferocity. All he knew was the chair that had been tethered to her yoyo was gone.

“I did kill her. She’s just a squashed bug on the ground like all the others.” Skyboss always seemed to be one step ahead of him. Chat Noir knew he was losing. His staff was knocked out of his hands and skidded toward the break in the elevator shaft.

That gave him an idea. He scrambled away from Skyboss, who taunted, “That’s right. Run, kitty, run. But you can’t hide.”

“I’m not trying to.” Chat Noir made a dash for the elevator, grabbing his staff. He spun it around, fending off Skyboss. The akuma dove for him, and Chat Noir threw himself backwards into the elevator shaft. Skyboss tumbled down, and Chat Noir fell after him. He struck out with his staff, hitting something and releasing the akuma. But the staff slipped out of his hand and out of his reach. The poor akuma victim was still falling, and he couldn’t reach them.

“Cataclysm!” He stretched his arm and touched the wall of the elevator shaft. Enough of it disintegrated that he could grab the resulting small crater and hang on, his legs dangling. He didn’t know if he could jump back up. He didn’t have his staff. All he could do was wait and hope that Ladybug was still alive. 

Ladybug had made significant progress on climbing back up the building. She was aware of the murmur of voices below her. Every time she hung from one arm, she was afraid she would fall and die. Then they’d lose, and Hawk Moth would win, and that couldn’t happen. She strained and brought her other arm up. It was about to suction to the glass when her other hand slipped. She fell, her stomach dropping.

For a second she thought she would die. She’d thought that a lot today. Then slammed her hand to the glass, almost pulling her shoulder out of its socket. Unable to think of a better idea, she pulled out her yoyo and threw it at the glass, shattering it. Then, she swung inside.

Quickly, she found the stairs and realized that she didn’t know what floor they’d been on. There was no fighting to tell her where to go. “Chat Noir!”

No response. She found the stairwell and dropped to her knees as her transformation gave out. Tikki looked exhausted. “I need to find Chat,” Marinette said anxiously. “Eat quickly.”

Tikki swallowed the cookie and nodded at her. “I’m ready.”

“Good. Tikki, spots on!” She transformed again and went up to the next floor, poked her head out of the door, and shouted his name again. He couldn’t have been defeated. He just couldn’t. She’d only just found out he was Adrien. No, Adrien Agreste couldn’t lose, not when they finally had a date.

She kept running and yelling, going floor to floor. Her muscles wanted to give out as she gasped for breath, opening another door. “Chat Noir!”

“Ladybug! Get the akuma!” Chat Noir’s voice came from somewhere.

“Where are you?” Ladybug called back. She looked around but couldn’t find him.

“Don’t worry about me. Keep going up!” His voice sounded strained.

“Are you sure?” Ladybug asked.

“Yes, you can’t let it get away.” She didn’t know it, but his fingers were starting to slip. It was okay though. She could bring him back, he hoped.

Ladybug kept going up until she found the floor they’d been on. The akuma was fluttering around, a little lost, and Ladybug threw out her yoyo, catching and purifying the butterfly.

“I did it!” Ladybug shouted. “Chat, where are you?”

“In the elevator shaft!” Chat Noir called. Then there was a flash of green light and a loud scream.

She ran over in time to see Adrien, not Chat Noir, falling.

“Lucky Charm!” A rope ladder fell into her hands. She hooked it around the broken edge of the shaft and holding the other end in one hand, jumped after her partner. She threw her yoyo around Adrien, pulling him into her embrace. Her other hand was firmly on the rope ladder. “You could have died,” she told him breathlessly. “Why would you do that?”

“You had to stop the akuma so Hawk Moth wouldn’t win. I trusted you to do what you had to and save me after. You’ve saved me before.” Adrien began climbing up the ladder. There was something on his mind.

“What else?” She followed him up the ladder, then raised one hand and tipped his head to look at her with a gentle finger on his chin.

“I thought you’d died when you fell. I thought I would die there.” She motioned for him to continue, and he said with some difficulty, “And then I was so happy you were alive that I would do anything to save your life.” 

“Oh, Adrien, Chat, you don’t have to worry about me like that. I can take care of myself.” She was a little upset with him for what he’d done. He could have died trying to save her, without giving her a say in the matter. Nonetheless, she pulled him into a hug, leaning into the ladder so they wouldn’t fall. “Remember that.”

She let him lean his head on her shoulder and listen to her breathing while she gently patted his back and stroked his hair. “I’m here. I wouldn’t die that easily.” She had been scared though. She had almost died several times today.

Ladybug’s miraculous beeped, and Adrien reluctantly pulled away. “You need to use your miraculous ladybug,” he finally said.

They climbed the rest of the way up the ladder as quickly as they could. Then Ladybug tossed the rope ladder in the air and called out, “Miraculous Ladybug!”

The elevator was fixed, the windows were restored, and the offices were suddenly filled with people. Adrien found himself holding Marinette’s portfolio. “The designs are all in here,” he said.

“Where’s the akuma victim?” Ladybug asked.

“That would be me,” a lady said, walking up to them. “I have no memory of anything that happened after getting into a fight with a coworker who kept trying to take over my design project. I was supposed to interview a Marinette Dupain-Cheng, but this happened instead.”

Ladybug glanced at Adrien. “Oh, I passed her on the way up here,” she said. “She dropped her portfolio and I gave it to Adrien Agreste here to hold. Her designs are wonderful. I completely approve of this one that fell out when she dropped her portfolio.”

Adrien watched with amusement as his partner grabbed her portfolio and pulled out the Ladybug-Chat Noir dress design. “I like it too,” he contributed.

“It is unique and bold, and it works perfectly,” the lady said. “I can’t wait to work with this brilliant designer. Of course, I have to interview her first.”

“Of course.” Ladybug smiled brilliantly. “I have to run! I’m sure Marinette will be here soon.”

“Merit alone?” Adrien teased as they walked away. 

Ladybug shrugged. “I couldn’t resist.” Her miraculous beeped again. “I need to detransform. Wait here.” She ran off, transformed back into Marinette in the bathroom, and then counted to thirty and walked back out.

Adrien was still waiting where she’d left him when she threw her arms around him. He jumped in surprise then hugged her back. “Hey, Marinette.”

“I can’t believe I’m not dreaming,” Marinette breathed, not letting go of him. “I’m not stuttering and clumsy and I’m talking to Adrien Agreste.”

“You’re talking to your claw-some partner who you have a date with,” Adrien reminded her. “It’s going to be purr-fect.”

She groaned. “I forgot I’d be getting the puns even more now.”

“You still love me, don’t you?” Adrien teased.

To answer his question, she kissed him. “I’ll see you after my interview, for that date?”

When he stopped being stunned, he told her, “I’m looking forward to it.”

Then Marinette walked away from him, toward her interview, knowing that everything in her life was coming together perfectly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And they lived happily ever after, for once


End file.
